Vacation in the Smokies

It has been a very exciting week! We just made it back home from our yearly visit to my in-laws in Knoxville Tennessee. We were able to do a little more site seeing this year because Ryan's Dad was out of town until Friday. We stayed in a very nice hotel in Gatlinburg right off the main strip. They had a indoor pool, jacuzzi and a stream right outside of our balcony. We rode the trolley around for just 50 cents each and saw some spectacular views of the mountains. We walked about 5 miles down the main strip where the girls wanted to sift through sand to find "rare" gems. Of course it was just an overpriced tourist attraction, but they enjoyed it. We stopped at the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, which again was an overpriced tourist attraction. It was interesting, and the girls enjoyed it also. We stopped in a shop and purchased Lacey new shoes, earrings, headband and necklace to match her Easter dress and ate lunch at Subway. After lunch, we were pretty exhausted so we rode the trolley back to the hotel and went swimming. Later, we walked to a Mexican restaurant and had dinner. We got a good nights sleep and woke up early and did a few more touristy things such as WonderWorks where Lacey got to rock climb. She did a great job until she looked down! We ate lunch with Ryan's friend Darin at Puleos Grille and made it to Ryan's parents' that evening. We colored eggs and made plans for a hike at Laurel Falls the next morning and headed to bed. Saturday morning we woke early and packed up and headed out. First, we stopped and had a picnic by the stream. Ryan's dad attempted to teach the girls how to skip rocks, which was pretty humorous. Lily just isn't very coordinated and I was terrified that she would hit someone in the head with a rock. The girls got their feet wet in the stream, and I am thankful that neither of them fell in this time. Last time we were in that situation, Lacey fell flat on her face and lost her shoe. After eating we drove up to find Laurel Falls. The scenery was beautiful and weather was just right. It wasn't too hot or too cold, and the sunshine was beaming. The trail to Laurel Falls was 1.3 miles long and ALL UPHILL! Ryan's parents, Lacey and Ryan were ahead of Lily and I and we made it about half way before Lily's shoes started hurting. Lily and I headed back and people watched while waiting. There were some pretty funny looking people there that day! After the group returned, we headed back towards Knoxville. Everyone had worked up an appetite so we stopped at a place called Salsarita's for dinner. Exhausted, we all returned home and watched Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. I stayed awake the whole time and was surprised that it was actually a decent movie. We slept well that night. Sunday we were able to sleep in as it was Conference week. I dressed the girls up in their Easter outfits and we took some pictures, and did the traditional egg hunt. We said our goodbyes and headed back home to Ohio.